#general traag

[pocoslip]

Look, I still love Shredder’s Revenge because Casey Jones is in the Game but Where’s Granitor??

[sunhaloscarab]

thinking about the rock soldiers.......they could be so interesting actually.....

like. they were created by krang. how do they view him???

also general traag…….the idea of being so fanatically loyal to your creator (the MOST loyal in fact) and yet you do not even pause to consider how you see him

idk man i just think lesser-known tmnt characters should get appreciation

general traag/captain zorax crackship anybody?

[thearcadearchives1981]

Konamicember- Let's get to the big finale- and kick shell in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Konamicember- Let’s get to the big finale- and kick shell in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

[turtlethon]

“Rock Around the Block”

Season 6, Episode 1 First US Airdate: September 12, 1992

Krang plots to use a satellite’s laser beam to free the Technodrome.

“Rock Around the Block” is the first episode of the sixth season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. David Wise returns as writer, his most recent contribution prior to this being the previous year’s “Leonardo Cuts Loose”.

In the Lair, the Turtles engage in a sparring session, with Michaelangelo battling Raphael. The other two Turtles are also paired off, with a frustrated Donatello repeatedly striking using his bo staff before effortlessly being flung across the room by a disinterested Leonardo. Splinter emerges to explain to Donnie that he was beaten through the principle of “Wu Wei”, using inertia to defeat an attacking enemy. He further elaborates that this is akin to gentle waves eroding enormous rocks over time, an idea that Mikey remarks is “pretty heavy philosophical stuff for a cartoon show”.

Shredder is becoming stir crazy due to the Technodrome being stuck in the Arctic since early last season, and isn’t placated by Rocksteady and Bebop arriving to offer him a snow-cone. Krang encourages Shreds to pay attention as April is appearing on TV, and “we have to develop a story plot”. (Fourth wall breaks are now occurring in one-minute intervals. Not a good sign.) Another rocket launch is taking place in New York, this one to send a defence satellite into space. The satellite, April informs us, has a laser beam mounted to it that is capable of cutting through solid rock. Krang hatches a plan to have Shredder attach a device to the satellite that will allow him to take control of it. The laser can then be used to cut the Technodrome out of the ice. Shreds points out that there’s still the issue of the Turtles arriving to stop them, but Krang has this figured out. Guiding Shredder to the portal room, he summons General Traag from Dimension X, returning for the first time since “Four Turtles and a Baby” back in season four.

The prospect of General Traag defeating the Turtles on his own seems absurd to Shredder, who dismisses him as a “boulder brain”. (That’s a bit rich given that Traag has only appeared in the show six times, and Shredder has about a hundred losses to his name.) Krang insists this won’t be an issue, introducing a weapon called a Rockolizer, which can be used to enliven minerals. He demonstrates this by tipping over a barrel full of gravel and firing the gun at it. A floating wave of stones soon entraps Bebop and Rocksteady.

Shredder is openly resentful of Traag being given the Rockolizer over him, though Krang explains that it’s only fitting for a Rock Soldier to wield the weapon. Later, Shredder reminds Krang that he needs to defeat the Turtles as this is a matter of honour under ninja law. Krang placates him with a secondary mission of affixing a gadget to the defence satellite.

The four villains arrive in New York via transport module. Rocksteady and Bebop are alarmed after being confronted by a dinosaur, before Shredder points out that this is due to them surfacing in the Natural History Museum. Traag splits off from the group, wandering through a park and firing the Rockolizer at his “brother rocks”. Enormous spikes of rocks soon emerge from the ground.

A frustrated April is wandering the offices of Channel 6 in search of a story when she spots Vernon lounging at his desk. He reveals that he’s engaging in the art of “transcendental procrastination”. A self-help video tape guides him through the process, with a Jack Nicholson soundalike explaining how to do nothing. This is interrupted by Burne Thompson, who informs his reporters that they’ve received information about rocks in Central City Park going “wacko”. The station boss demands they investigate.

Donatello is still getting to grips with the concept of Wu Wei, asking Raphael to hit him with everything he’s got. Raph responds by chucking the living room couch at Donnie, which is less than helpful. The training session is interrupted by April via Turtlecom, who relays what she’s learned about the situation in the park, and the Turtles head off to investigate. April travels to the scene in her van, narrowly avoiding a giant boulder that emerges from the ground before the van teeters on the edge of the hole created by the flying rock as act one ends.

Act two opens with the Turtles arriving in their van, winching April’s vehicle to safety. A wave of bouncing boulders then emerges, one of which flattens the news van moments before April and our heroes escape in the Turtle Van. Meanwhile Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop arrive at the rocket site in a transport module, with Shreds attending to the launch while The Boys handle a pair of security guards. Krang phones in to check on how things are going and re-iterate the Scheme of the Day (largely, I imagine, for the benefit of any viewers just tuning in). Shredder assures the alien brain that everything is under control and urges him to “stay cool”.

The Turtles track down and attack General Traag, only to find their weapons crumble upon striking him. Traag retaliates by using the Rockolizer to bring the entire road beneath their feet to life, then decimates an entire building, the bricks briefly burying the Turtles. (As is so often the case whenever a building gets levelled in this show, it’s hard not to imagine other people getting hurt as a result of this). April arrives on the scene and finds the Turtles unharmed. Having run out of tape, she’s granted the use of the Turtle Van so she can return to Channel 6 and get more.

Traag creates a giant rock monster that begins lumbering down the street, and after seeing the Turtle Van escaping, mistakenly assumes the Turtles are escaping. He has the monster follow the van to Channel 6, where it begins pummelling the station building. The Turtles distract the monster from a nearby rooftop, narrowly escaping as it causes further damage.

At the rocket site, Shredder finds Rocksteady and Bebop pretending to be space adventurers instead of attaching the control device to the satellite’s laser, and assumes control of the mission himself. Meanwhile, the Turtles commandeer a group of construction vehicles to attack the rock monster, leaving it no more than a pile of rubble. This victory turns out to be short-lived, as Traag arrives on the scene and reconstructs the rocks as an army of smaller warriors.

The concluding act opens with the Turtles pinned down by Tragg’s new minions. A large rock crushing machine at the nearby construction site provides the team with an opportunity to fight back, as they lure the monsters inside. Raphael is able to snatch the Rockolizer from Traag and destroy it, forcing the General to retreat via dimensional portal. April points out to the team that there’s still the outstanding issue of the rocket that’s currently being launched, which Krang has assumed control of.

Our heroes arrive at the launch site but find the rocket’s controls unresponsive. Shredder is already back in the Technodrome – which I suppose we don’t even question anymore as it’s happened so many times – and sits with Krang in matching command chairs as the satellite’s laser cuts the rolling fortress out of the ice. The villainous duo is jubilant as the Technodrome begins moving once more.

Watching all this via monitor from back at the launch site are the Turtles, who find themselves unable to stop their enemies. Donatello suggests the team use Wu Wei to fight back, and so our heroes sit cross legged on the floor, eyes closed and grimacing. Bebop and Rocksteady fight over a comic book before accidentally damaging a console which operates the laser controls. This causes a giant hole to be burned through the ice directly in the path of the still-moving Technodrome, which crashes into the ocean.

We end today’s episode in the Lair, where Splinter asks Donatello if he now has a full understanding of Wu Wei. Donnie replies that while he doesn’t entirely get it, after their experiences battling Traag’s warriors it’s an approach that’s better than “beating your head against a stone wall”, a gag that (justifiably) sees him taking a pizza to the face.

We’re now definitively in the post-Turtlemania era, and there’s a sense that while everyone involved accepts the best days of the show are behind it, no-one is willing to do anything to try and arrest the inevitable decline yet, and so instead we find ourselves going through the motions. “Rock Around the Block” is every bit your standard David Wise TMNT outing, by no means bad but there’s nothing going on here we haven’t seen countless times before. Bebop and Rocksteady’s antics and the welcome return of General Traag help, but I expect better from the show’s star writer, especially for a season debut that sets things up for the rest of the year’s adventures.

Of particular note, the concept of Wu Wei in relation to combat is fine, but the way the Turtles utilise it at the climax of this episode is a middle finger to the viewer the likes of which we haven’t seen since The Mothball Incident of 1989. Are we supposed to accept that the Turtles stopped the Technodrome through mystical thinking? If they didn’t and the villains simply screwed up on their own, doesn’t this send the message that the Turtles might as well not bother even showing up and just let things play out? If that’s what this story is going for it becomes the opposite of “With great power comes great responsibility”. Let the chips fall where they may. It doesn’t sit right with me at all.

In keeping with the diminishing profile of the Turtles, CBS would commission only sixteen further episodes of TMNT in 1992, and so the days of Saturday morning double-bill premieres are now a thing of the past. Our journey through the series will continue at its usual twice-weekly pace though, with the next outing under the spotlight being “Krangenstein Lives”.

[tallus76-photography]

Granitor and General Traag

[therobotmonster]

My Turtles of Grayskull 'Druthers

Okay, since the line is apparently not a limited-concept run but is going to instead run till the doors fall off, I'm gonna lay out my hopes and dreams for sweet-as-heck dumb conceptual mashups.

Lets stick some silly chocolate and some stupid-fun peanut butter together and make a decent candy and an awesome cereal.

I might be hungry.

Anyhow, lets make some monsters!

Ace Duck

I love the Tales of the Gold Monkey-inspired pilot Ace Duck more than the next guy, but this is MOTU we're dealin' with, we need ARCHIE Ace Duck.

He's literally born to be here. Basic body, skeletor feet, reuse the April O'Neil wings, little red thong or trunks (from the wrasslin' line), plus he can get stratos's little arm wings, and an alt head with the Stratos Mask on (evoking a lucha dore mask).

Ty-Gor - NInjor / Tigerclaw (but green!)

Ninjor gets mutated with Eternian Tiger DNA to become Ty-Gor.

Not limiting myself to the Fred Wolf era here. Basically its Ninjor with a Tigerclaw head (masked and two-eyed, unmasked and eyepatched), only with the green with orange stripes eternian tiger coloration. He gets a terror-claws skeletor claw, an eternian six-shooter (later usable for Rio-Blast) and the beastliest feet they can muster.

Mutant Evil-Lyn

Seeking to empower herself with this new "mutation" magic, Evil-Lyn made a potion of mutagen and Mantisaur venom. Ironically not her worst scheme.

Mantenna pelvis with new insect legs, Evil-Lyn torso with humanoid and mantisaur-mutant heads (still wearing her tiara as a mantisaur), slip-over mantis-claw weapons.

Kurai-Khan

I mean, it's not like she hasn't been here before. Lore establishes the Eternian magic gives her full control over her snake-form, and the ability to command the snake men... save for the Ratsnake King.

Deluxe figure, reusing a LOT of Lady Slither, But using Stephanie McMahon legs and torso, some new snake-gauntlets and a swappable set of heads. Snake-head has the spit-fx feature from Kobra Khan, flared cobra hood. And a katana, obviously.

General Pig-Iron - Pig-Head / General Traag (By way of Rokkon)

Krang's mutagenic experiments continue, this time he combines Sun-Man's Pig-Head and the Rock-Soldiers' DNA to make one stone-tough pigheaded warmonger.

The sculpt is mostly Rokkon, with a new stony pighead-face and more Traag-y chest (with ammo bandolier to mimic Pig-Head, 'natch)

The Ratsnake King - Rat King / King Hiss

Disappointed by the Rat-King's failures, Skeletor fuses him with the shed skin of King Hiss via sorcery and good old fashioned mutagen. The new horror can command serpents that were beyond even King Hiss's reach.

Ratsnake King uses the King hiss snake parts, with a new head & chest armor built on a mummy-esq reinterpretation of Rat King, snake-y crossbow and staff. Give him the Reptilax tail so he's a little snakey even in his 'human' form, he's a mutant, after all.

Mutagen-Man-E-Faces

This idea is from @skeletor-enjoyer who posted it in the replies to my previous glow-up post on this dumb-as-heck (affectionate) line.

This one's easy. New torso that allows for the Man-E-faces gimmick and a clear torso that can hold a gooey guts insert. Human face looks like nonmutant Seymour Gutz, Robot face replaced with foot-soldier (toonstyle) face, monster face is a hybrid MM/MEF monster face.

New limbs that will later be reused for Slushhead. Multiple replacement hands/limbs (clawful hand, etc) to simulate mutation/shapeshifting powers.

Foot 'Sploders - Foot soldiers / Blast-Attack

Krang: You know what Skeletoooorrruup? I like the iDEa of robots that are SUPPOSED to exPLooowwddee! Why can't YOU be this kind of go-getter Saaaaakiiii?

Shredder: You always undermine me in front of the crossover villains!

Skeletor: Don't stop on my account! I haven't had this much fun since Grizzlor fell into the slime pit! NYAH!

Excuse to make a somewhat functional Blast-Attack chest. Foot Soldier head with cartoon bomb in place of the foot symbol, long forearm sculpt (useful for 200X Beast Man) with arm-shield accessories. Tons of weapons. Legs from various wrasslers' with pants/boots.

Doctor Orkocutt the Fugilock

Orko uses his magic to fix the Fugitoid, but the spell goes awry, merging them into a single magi-technical absentminded genius. They work better this way, but trouble is bound to follow.

Orko Body, with premolds for a Netflix Orko in Classicverse arms, and a new fugiod-in-a-wizard-hat-head, with many many exchangeable hands.

Mutant Buzz-Off - Buzz-off/Killer Bee

A partially-translucent mutant like He-Man and the other corrupted hero mutants, only Buzz-Off is... kinda wild... wild enough I had to photoshop, albeit in a Q&D...

The basic idea is mutant Buzz-Off uses Mantenna's legs, Mosquitor's torso, a new head that's still compatible with the Mosquitor-grabber, Buzz-Off's left arm, Clawful's right, alt head of grimacing half-killer-bee Buzz_off. The goo is green or purple instead of red, for a mutagen-feature.

If compatible with the Mantenna legs, using the Buzz-Off feet is preferable, the same with the Skeleton Warrior arm and the left arm.

Bionaceraton - Triceraton / Bionatops

Ancient power arises as a Preternian ancestor to the Triceratons is awakened.

I mean, once again we pull out the Andre the Giant mold, this time giving it a tail and a Triceraton head, and slightly remolded chest armor. Garnish with sci-fi guns, put out in a handsome green colorscheme.

Mutant She-Ra - She-Ra / Swiftwind

Having last been in contact with Swiftwind before exposure to the mutagen, She-Ra's becomes an uncontrollable mutant Pegasus.

Am I suggesting they put a Unicorn head and Sorceress Wings on She-Ra, possibly with new 'buff gal' limbs that would make a Netflix-inspired Scorpia Possible? Yes. Yes I am. She's got a unicorn-horn spear weapon and is filled with a horselike rage.

Optikk

Look, its the TMNT crossover. You are required to have at least one of the New Adventures Mutants there, and Optikk is the most on-brand for the concept.

You can make him out of mostly Roboto Parts with a new armor piece for the collar and a new eyeball-head. Or just make the collar lock onto the head joint and have a free-spinning eye.

Mona Lis-Ra - Mona Lisa / She-Ra

Someone has to use the power sword while She-Ra's a nightmare mutant abomination!

It's pretty straightforward, She-Ra torso and upper arms/legs, new finned female lower arms and legs, new tailed female pelvis, new head. She-Ra's gear plus some extras to be shape-shifted forms for the sword.

Savanti Romeo and Renet

They're just there They're already designed for this world. To justify it, they have... uh... Savante has the dragon blast dragon that was used with Ricky the Steamboat Dragon, and Renet has... uh.. the time staff thing Gwildor used. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Bonus Round: Obligatory A-Character Variants:

TechnoWizard Dontatello - Backdoor Donatello #1 figure.

Anti-Eternia Raphael - Archie Comics fans know why.

Mutant Teela - She's a snake, again! This time give her a real snake head and a tail guys.

Mutant Skeletor - Goat Skull head, goat legs.

That's it for now, but even though many of these are a stretch, I'm sure it demonstrates the blood isn't nearly squeezed from this stone.

[iztarshi]

tmnt 2012's take on the relationships between dimensions is wild because

there is only one dimension X which lies between all the various turtle dimensions

the triceratons as well as the krang and the utroms (who are splinter krang) are from dimension X

there are still alternate versions of characters, for instance General Traag, the rock warrior, or Mozar, a triceraton, who in 2012 would be native to dimension X

they ignore 87's lore to make Krang a krang instead of someone who used to have a body (which I don't mind too much because 87 never let previous lore get in the way of an episode idea tbh) but it's when you try to extend this to 2003, with its triceratons and utroms, that things get really weird

implicitly all its triceratons and utroms would have to come from dimension X also, presumably having come through a while ago and made their home in the 03 dimension, with the utroms being offshoot krang after all

and then if you try to bring in the krang from RISE

[kudosmyhero]

TMNT: Utrom Empire (IDW) #2

Read Date: May 31, 2023 Cover Date: February 2014 ● Writer: Paul Allor ● Art: Andy Kuhn ● Colorist: Bill Crabtree ● Letterer: Shawn Lee ● Editor: Bobby Curnow ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● am I actually going to feel bad for Utroms? ● Baxter is a bastard ● Fugitoid ftw!

● Fugitoid built in a self-destruct on the Technodrome. and this book predates Rogue One ^_^ (that is the movie where they retroed the weak point on the Death Star, right? if not, oh well. you know what I meant.) ● 👏👏👏👏👏

Synopsis: The Fugitoid is nervous. He has just knocked out Baxter Stockman in order to prevent the genocide of the last remaining Utroms. Fugitoid isn't convinced that Stockman's plan of killing all the Utroms to eliminate Krang's motivation will work, but now he has to refill the vials with ooze and the power is still down. Fugitoid stashes Stockman in a storage closet before seeking help from Krang himself. Krang, upon seeing Fugitoid walking about freely, immediately sets Traag and Granitor on him. Fugitoid tells Krang about the danger to the Utroms in stasis and Krang hears what he has to say. Fugitoid shows Krang the stasis room and tells him that somehow the ooze has leaked out, but the generator to get it online is outside in the storm. Krang tells him that he will face the storm to repair it.

In Dimension X, many years ago, Krang's ship enters Utrominon's orbit. Upon landing, Krang is greeted by Councilor Drexl, one of the newly instated councilors. Drexl escorts Krang through the city and attempts to tell him about the political happenings but Krang stops him. He tells Drexl that he's just there to witness the execution of the rebellion leader who was recently captured, then returning to the battlefront. Drexl tells Krang that his father Emperor Quanin had intended for Krang to accompany them to the Grand Concourse where a parade and games were being held in Krang's honor, but Krang is not concerned.

Krang heads to the detention center where the rebel leader is being held. The guard asks Krang if he can take him to him but Krang tells him that he instead wants to see the deposed Ruling Council. A short while later, Krang arrives at the Grand Concourse where the parade is being held. Krang orders everyone out of the viewing booth so that he can speak with his father privately. Krang tells his father that he spoke with Councilor Lorqa, and Lorqa told him of his father's depletion of their planet's natural resources, how their homeworld is dying while Quanin builds new palaces and erects new statues. Quanin does not want to hear anything Krang has to say, and instead tells Krang that he is a newly appointed member of the Royal Council. Krang tells his father that him serving on the council is ludicrous, and he intends to return to the front line to help end the war. Quanin tells his son that the war will never end, and the ceaseless expansion of their empire will be their defining feature, their legacy. Before Quanin can say anymore he is interrupted by Drexl, he informs him that Zog has escaped his cell in the detention center.

Krang, Quanin, and Drexl take a short flight to the detention center and witness Zog tearing his way through the guards as they land. Zog, spotting Krang, makes a beeline for him and manages to take him hostage.

On Burnow Island, present day, Krang takes a look at the power breaker that has shorted out due to the hurricane. Fugitoid guides him through what he needs to do to repair it, but before Fugitoid can finish giving him the information, their connection is lost. That's because Stockman has escaped and sicced one of his flyborgs on the Fugitoid. Stockman reveals that he never trusted the Fugitoid, and had planned to frame him for the murder of the Utroms. When the Fugitoid had worked for Stockman, as Chet Allen, he had thought Stockman was amoral. Now however he sees that Stockman is undeniably evil. Fugitoid is forced to wrestle with Stockman's flyborg. Fugitoid manages to break free, grab a gun left by a guard, and shoot the flyborg. Fugitoid tells Stockman not to follow him and he leaves.

In Northampton, Donnie is impressed by what he reads in the Fugitoid's work journal. Don realizes Fugitoid is practically its creator, having designed most of it from the ground up. Don excitedly shows schematics for its self-destruct sequence to Raph and Mikey, who are sparring. Mikey, distracted by Donnie, gets a punch square in the face. Raph points out that even though they now have some idea of how to shut down the Technodrome, they have no way to get to Burnow Island to do so. Donnie tells him he will come up with a plan, eventually.

On Burnow Island, Krang is nearly finished with the power breaker repairs. Just as he connects the final two wires, a jolt of electricity throws him backwards, his mechanical body shorted out.

In the past, on Utrominon, Zog orders the Utroms to lower their weapons, or he will kill Krang. Krang, unperturbed, tells him to do it. Quanin however cannot hold out and orders his men to surrender. Zog commandeers the Utrom ship and orders the pilot to take them up. Zog tells Krang that it's not too late for the Utroms. Krang tells him that it is too late for him and the Triceratons, that they will never win their war. Zog tells Krang that they don't have to win, just outlast his father. With that, Zog drops Krang to the ground and escapes in the ship.

Krang wakes up in a hospital bed. His father tells him that they found the ship Zog commandeered, the pilot dead. Krang asks Quanin how he could have let this happen, telling him that if they had executed Zog like Krang wanted then the rebellion would have been seriously demoralized and their victory would be that much nearer. Quanin tells him that there was nothing he could have done, because Zog was threatening his very legacy, his heir, his only son. Krang tells him that the Utrom race is a whole is more important than their family, that he should have let him. Krang tells his father that he would sacrifice anything for the preservation of their race.

On Burnow Island, present day, Krang struggles to his feet, but is knocked down a cliff by the strong winds of the storm.

(https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles:_Utrom_Empire_issue_2)

Fan Art: Krang by danielmchavez

Accompanying Podcast: ● Shellheads - episode 62

[keehappy]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figure.

[shellshockedstudio]

TURTLETOBER Day 16

TOTALLY TUBULAR TURTLETOBER Day 16 of 31 – General Traag

[alexgamestyle]

TMNT Shredder's Revenge - Episode 13 Technodrome Redux | Chrome Dome General Traag https://youtu.be/70Nm-q2gg3U

[siryl]

“General Traag” by Stalnososkoviy.

[90ssuperheroes]

Voices of the villains pt.16

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)

[burntbeebs]

Feed the Krangy? idk what possessed me to do this, but I'm glad it did. All redraws of frames from "Feed the Kitty".

[turtlethon]

“Wrath of the Rat King”

Season 8, Episode 2 First US Airdate: September 24, 1994

Shredder enlists the services of the Rat King while Krang retrieves a powerful weapon from Dimension X.

“Wrath of the Rat King” is the second episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season eight. As with the rest of this year’s episodes, David Wise is credited as writer here.

Following on from the events of “Get Shredder!”, we learn that Channel 6 is back on the air, and as Burne promised the station is now going all-in on anti-Turtle propaganda. Meanwhile the Turtles themselves meet up with April – who despite having spent the entire series worrying about the prospect of being fired is now driving a flashy red convertible sports car – outside the Hall of Science. Convinced that Shredder and Krang have moved in following the capture of Berserko, the team are determined to get inside, but soon find the rooftop-mounted defences used against them.

Bebop and Rocksteady are on the roof of the old building, and use a catapult to lob hi-tech bombs at their foes. After realising the weaponry available to the villains is too powerful to be dealt with directly, the Turtles are forced to retreat. April has been filming these events, but is unconvinced that footage of her friends in battle will help change Burne’s mind about them.

Shredder is paranoid that the Turtles will eventually be able to infiltrate the Hall of Science and confront them; as a means of stopping his old foes he declares his intention to visit an old ally. Meanwhile, Krang uses Berserko’s equipment to contact General Traag in Dimension X. Following the events of “Shredder Triumphant!” last season, the Technodrome has fallen into a black hole, the gravitational pull too great for it to escape. Only one viable weapon remains within the fortress, the most powerful in Krang’s arsenal: the Shock Wave, however due to his lack of a body the alien warlord reluctantly concedes Shredder will have to be the one who wields it.

The last time we saw the Rat King he was a member of the anti-Turtle villain supergroup assembled by Shredder in season seven’s “Night of the Rogues”. Shreds visits him again, this time offering him advanced weaponry he can use to take out the Turtles. Rat King complains that this will only allow him to take over the sewers, but Shredder has a solution that will allow him to capture the rest of the city as well: a new form of mutagen that will enhance the abilities of his rats. This will only be granted to Rat King upon his successful defeat of the green teens.

General Tragg retrieves the Shock Wave, a modestly-sized weapon/contraption dealie, and sends it through the portal. The gravitational force of the black hole interferes with its journey, and instead of winding up directly in front of Krang it lands in the middle of a road elsewhere in the city. As police call for a bomb squad upon discovering the strange device, Krang orders Bebop and Rocksteady to recover his weapon.

The Turtles return to the Lair, discussing possible methods of getting inside the Hall of Science. Upon turning on the TV they see Vernon promoting an upcoming expose of “The city’s worst criminals, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. A mock-up image appears on-screen showing the team clutching firearms, clearly intended to further sully their reputation. Raphael is furious and ready to confront the station boss, but Donatello is beginning to wonder if the team really are at fault for everything that has happened, and Leonardo concedes he may be right. Before the group can discuss the issue further, they find a group of vicious rats devouring their belongings. Moments later, the Rat King - who has now updated his image with a Darkman-style hat and long coat – bursts through a wall and attacks the Turtles using the weapons provided by Shredder.

Act two opens with the Turtles shoving Rat King back through the wall and into the waters of the sewers. He continues to use the gear provided to him to attack the Turtles, before finally creating a wave of water that flushes them away. Now convinced the team have been vanquished, he leaves to claim his reward from Shredder.

As Bebop and Rocksteady determine the Shock Wave has wound up with the police, the Turtles continue to grow more pessimistic: in what comes across as a distinctly meta-textual conversation, Donnie, Leo and Raph all begin to wonder if their time has passed and if they just don’t have what it takes to be heroes anymore. Michaelangelo is the only member of the group who hasn’t succumbed to this pessimism, convinced they can turn things around.

Channel 6 is now operating out of rinky-dink premises that, I assume by coincidence, resemble the station offices used by Channel 3 in the first live-action TMNT movie. Burne and April have an argument about the forthcoming anti-Turtles hit piece, during which he insists he can run the operation as he pleases, and warns her that she’ll be demoted if she airs a piece defending them. April doesn’t seem to take this on board, marching off and declaring she won’t be prevented from filming an exposé of her own.

Krang has been out of the loop regarding Shredder’s activities and is aghast to learn he provided weaponry to the Rat King, who he dismisses as a “lunatic”. Shreds is insistent that the sewer-dwelling villain has changed. (I don’t know what he’s basing this on, maybe he was really taken in by the new hat.) Bebop and Rocksteady relay the news that the Shock Wave is now being kept at the highly guarded Westmore Research Center, a facility that the villains have struggled to gain entry to in the past.

Speaking of gaining entry, I don’t know if Rat King was provided with a key to the Hall of Science or what, but he manages to saunter in and demand the mutagen he was promised for defeating the Turtles. This is news to Krang too, but Shredder fumbles his way out of this awkward conversation by pointing out that with the powers granted by their new mutagen, Rat King’s rodents could get inside the research facility and help recover the Shock Wave.

April uses her Turtlecom to advise the team she just spotted Rat King walk into Shredder’s new hideout, but the Turtles – who following their redesigns really are coming across as mopey, depressed teens going through some kind of dark phase – don’t even see the point in trying to do anything about it. Not only is Channel 6′s reporter aghast to hear this, but Splinter is too. Speaking like a true weary dad of four troubled boys, he tells them he’s “had quite enough of [their] poor attitude!” He goes on to shoot down Donatello’s concerns about Burne’s attacks. “If you believe the ill others speak of you, then you have lost before you begin. Winning is nothing. Doing your best and acting with honour are the only things that matter.”

Splinter marches out of the Lair, declaring that the only thing left for him to do is jump the gorge himself fight Shredder and the Rat King himself. The Turtles are horrified by this prospect, knowing that there’s no way their Sensei can win. Rather than put him through that, they agree to take up the battle on his behalf. The team meet up with April, who is thrilled to see them back in the game, but an unexpected threat soon emerges as Shredder and Rat King arrive with a group of mutated, wolf-sized rats.

Act three opens with the Turtles battling the giant rats, but finding themselves overpowered. The team attempt to lure them into one of the domes left over from the World’s Fair event and escape underground using a hatch, though the rats soon tear through the walls and return to their masters. Krang orders that the villains move on to the research facility to retrieve the Shock Wave; unbeknownst to the bad guys, April is continuing to track them.

The Turtles re-emerge and are now dejected even further, having been handed yet another loss, this time to the giant rats. They’re again on the verge of giving up when they happen to pass by – yes! - an electronics store with a bunch of TV sets in the window with the volume turned up, all of them set to Channel 6. Vernon is seen laying into our heroes, and presumably this is the “exposé” Burne promised earlier, as footage is shown of the green team that suggests they were in control of the Annihilator, Berserko’s destructive vehicle seen in the previous episode. Spite is a tremendous motivator, and the Turtles become furious at the sight of Vernon shit-talking them on live TV. Determined to prove him wrong, they resolve to defeat Krang and stop the mutant rats. How will they do it? With the help of Shredder’s retromutagen ray of course, the one that they retrieved in “Revenge of the Fly”. The one that they... uh... destroyed.

I mean, it’s gone. Leonardo sliced that thing to pieces with his katana, they made a big point of showing everyone watching at home that the retromutagen ray was not gonna be a thing anymore. And yet... here we are.

(Sigh)

Okay. Let’s continue.

Some scientists are seen at the research facility attempting to make sense of the Shock Wave when the assembled villains use the mutant rats to tear down the walls and confront them. Krang is thrilled at the prospect of getting his doohickey back, but Rat King has heard enough about this all-powerful weapon, taking the device and going into business for himself. Tired of being used as “some rat-obsessed crackpot”, he vows to get rid of Shredder and Krang before taking the city for himself.

The Turtles arrive in their van, carrying a weapon that looks nothing like the retromutagen ray (either the original design from “Shredder & Splintered”, or the one mistakenly patterned after the ray gun Baxter Stockman found in the alien spacecraft that was destroyed last season). They watch as the whole facility blows up, Rat King emerging with his army of mutated rodents. Using the Shock Wave, the villain blows a huge hole in the ground, forcing the Turtles to cling to the edges. Donnie struggles to reach the retromutagen gun, but after a pep talk from the other members of the group manages to pull himself up alongside the device and zap the rats.

Rat King goes on a rampage, destroying entire buildings with a single blast. He eventually winds up outside a facility where rat poison is stored and declares his intent to unleash the pesticide contained within, ridding the city of humans. The Turtles arrive to stop him, along the way taking control of an armoured truck: in defeating the villain, the vehicle is driven through a nearby wall, destroying the Shock Wave in the process.

April has filmed the Turtles successfully capturing the Rat King. Returning to Channel 6, she insists on playing the footage out live, demonstrating to the viewers at home that her friends are heroes. Burne confronts her afterwards and makes good on his promise, and as we close out today’s adventure it seems that she really will be demoted to mailroom duties. Watching from the Lair, the Turtles remark that it won’t take her long to bounce back as Burne doesn’t have many reporters to work with, something that’s been a running joke in Turtlethon from the start but... yeah, it’s confirmed here as canon, at least during this season. Having reclaimed their lost motivation, the Turtles are now determined again to beat Shredder once and for all.

I remain somewhat wary of this new era of TMNT, expecting that things are going to turn south any day now, and yet “Get Shredder!” was nothing to sniff at and here, again, I’m surprised to see the show maintaining that momentum. Some of my favourite recurring themes appear here, as Burne begins using his influence to attack the Turtles and threaten their way of life. The characterisation of the team as sulkier, older teenagers who are borderline depressed somehow works in this adventure, against all expectations: never have the Turtles been handed as many losses as they have over the course of the last three episodes, and it’s entirely believable that it would get them down. The return of the Technodrome, their banishment to Dimension X to work as slaves, their failure to stop the Channel 6 building from being destroyed and (temporary) inability to stop the mutant rats have all taken place within a short timeframe, and all of this is taking place against the backdrop of a hate campaign from Burne Thompson intended to turn public sentiment against them. No wonder they’re sad.

Last time I mentioned that Burne’s tirade following the destruction of the Channel 6 building was the most convincing anger we’d ever seen from him, rooted in a genuine loss rather than simply being hot air. Here, again, we see the characters talking with true conviction in ways they never have before: Splinter’s anger upon seeing the Turtles giving up feels real, he’s not just serving up the same hollow platitudes he has for the entire run of the series, this means something now. I mentioned earlier the meta-textual aspect of our heroes giving up, appearing to mirror their real-life decline, the world having moved on and no longer valuing them, and this adds an extra dimension to their sensei’s speech: both in-universe and as fictional characters the Turtles have lost everything, but he – and I assume, the remaining viewers at home – are rooting for them to stand up and fight, to prove they can still do this. I think this is easily Hamato Yoshi’s finest hour, the first time I’ve ever found him truly inspiring and the most effective use of him in the entire run of the show.

All of this is starting to make me second-guess my memories and preconceptions about the Red Sky era. While I don’t care for the redesigned characters, so far it’s... good? Like, really, really good? Wasn’t this supposed to be the point where the Turtles finally jumped the shark? Let’s hope this run of strong episodes continues as we move on to the season’s third adventure, “State of Shock”.

[tallus76-photography]

General Traag. I brought you here to hunt those damn punks. The Neutrinos must be stopped .. borrrp!

#bstaxntheloyalsubjects #neca #tmnt